CAMARILLO, Calif., Nov. 4, 2021 – Semtech Corporation (Nasdaq: SMTC), a leading global supplier of high performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms, announced that ICT International, an Internet of Things (IoT) solution provider for environmental applications, is leveraging Semtech’s LoRa® devices and the LoRaWAN® standard to improve urban forest management and carbon accounting. ICT International’s range of plant physiology devices are able to monitor the health of the urban forest in real time via a LoRaWAN network. The products are able to measure plant water use (sap flow), soil moisture and vapor pressure deficit, and can identify periods of low soil moisture and high plant water stress. Addressing these factors quickly can help trees remain healthy, providing valuable ecosystem services to the community as well as measurable carbon capture.
“The urban forest provides valuable eco services such as carbon sequestration through photosynthesis and cooling through shade and evapotranspiration. However, to perform these valuable functions the tree must be healthy,” said Dr. Peter Cull, managing director at ICT International. “The urban forest represents overwhelmingly the only interaction with nature that many of the world’s population have on a day-to-day basis. With increasing urbanization of the population, the shift to urban living and appreciation of the green spaces that exist within those areas, the value placed on the urban forest is increasing.”
The key devices in the collaboration included the SFM1L Sap Flow Meter and the PSY1 Stem Psychrometer which ICT International have deployed throughout cities in New South Wales, Australia to identify the ongoing water requirements of the urban forest. Through using LoRaWAN, these unique devices are capable of continuously measuring plant water use (SFM1L) and plant water stress (PSY1), while transmitting the data to the decision maker.
“ICT International’s utilization of LoRaWAN for its sensors is a great example of how low power, wide area networks can ultimately create a smart city and a better and healthier planet for all,” said Marc Pégulu, vice president of IoT strategy and products for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “The real-time monitoring enabled by the LoRaWAN connectivity is providing actionable data to the forest’s surrounding city water allocation and irrigation departments to make decisions on maintaining the health of the urban forest.”
To learn more about ICT International SFM1L Sap Flow Meter, please visit here.
To learn more about how Semtech’s LoRa devices can be used in smart environment applications, please visit here.
About Semtech’s LoRa® Platform
Semtech’s LoRa device-to-Cloud platform is a globally adopted long range, low power solution for IoT applications, enabling the rapid development and deployment of ultra-low power, cost efficient and long range IoT networks, gateways, sensors, module products, and IoT services worldwide. Semtech’s LoRa technology provide the communication layer for the LoRaWAN® standard, which is maintained by the LoRa Alliance®, an open IoT alliance for Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) applications that has been used to deploy IoT networks in over 100 countries. Semtech is a founding member of the LoRa Alliance. To learn more about how LoRa enables IoT, visit Semtech’s LoRa site.
About ICT International
ICT International is focused on the measurement of plant and environmental parameters. With a range of LoRaWAN devices, ICT International combines the best sensing technologies with IoT connectivity, ensuring the collection of high quality data for monitoring and management decision making. For over 40 years, ICT International has been working with the research and commercial sectors in over 50 countries to meet their measurement and monitoring needs. ICT International’s devices are manufactured in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. To learn more, visit ictinternational.com.